FUMC volunteers assist relief efforts

Thursday

Dec 22, 2016 at 1:01 AM

More than a dozen volunteers from First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe recently traveled to Baldwin, LA to provide assistance to an international effort that connects the Methodist Church to 81 countries as well as communities across the United States

Star Staff Report

More than a dozen volunteers from First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe recently traveled to Baldwin, LA to provide assistance to an international effort that connects the Methodist Church to 81 countries as well as communities across the United States.

Baldwin is the site of one of two national supply facilities/communities operated by UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) Sager Brown.

Sager Brown was originally founded in the late 1800s as a community for African-American children after the Civil War. The original community was destroyed in a hurricane.

What later emerged was UMCOR Sager Brown, where teams of volunteers, 5,000 this year, spend a week in service and spiritual uplift.

During the week volunteers from FUMC Port St. Joe spent there, six teams from four other states were also volunteering.

One of the primary projects at the campus is the creation of kits, from health kits to birthing kits, that are sent to countries and areas around the world impacted by disaster.

This is the 10th year in a row that volunteers from FUMC of Port St. Joe have traveled to the community, assisting on a range of projects.

Service work was performed at the St. Jude’s Apartments for the Elderly, Mickey Mouse Head Start, Chez Hope Family Violence Center, The Bridge Women’s Center and Teen Challenge for Women, rebuilding bunk beds at The Bridge and installing welcome signs around Baldwin City.

On the Sager Brown campus, the group assisted in building lawn furniture, moved and re-installed a handicap-accessible ramp, put up Christmas decorations and, for the 10th-straight year, put up the nativity scene.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.